More details revealed about falsified robbery at Wood River Family Dollar

Sanford J. Schmidt, sschmidt@civitasmedia.com

Published
11:26 am CDT, Tuesday, July 11, 2017

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More details revealed about falsified robbery at Wood River Family Dollar

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WOOD RIVER — A Bethalto man is facing trial after he allegedly called police to report a robbery but ended up being the one arrested and charged after police deemed the report to be false.

Zachary L. Hayes, 23, of the 700 block of Short Street, Bethalto, was charged with felony theft and felony disorderly conduct. Bail was set at $100,000.

He allegedly called police to report he had been robbed near the Family Dollar Store, 18 West Edwardsville Road, and told officers when they arrived that he was approached by a man who held a knife on him. A police officer noticed a superficial mark on Hayes’ side.

Hayes allegedly told police the robber took two green bank bags from his back pocket, then fled on foot down an alley. Police noticed a knife next to Hayes.

Police set up a perimeter but were not able to locate a suspect. The store supervisor arrived on the scene and told police he was there to talk to Hayes about missing deposits from the business.

He told police that Hayes must have seen him as he drove past in a Jeep Cherokee. The supervisor said he saw Hayes drive by in the Jeep.

The supervisor said the store was missing $4,500 from three deposits from that morning, June 19. Police checked a video surveillance camera from Moe’s Corner near the Family Dollar Store. They saw the Jeep but no suspects running to or from the scene.

Authorities have retained the video. Some details of the incident were in an affidavit requesting a search warrant for the Jeep. The details were made public Friday.

Police obtained a search warrant for the Jeep and found nine deposit bag seals, three ripped deposit bags and three deposit bag receipts.

The disorderly conduct charge was filed as a Class 4 felony in that he allegedly falsely reported the armed robbery to the Wood River police dispatcher. That charge is punishable by probation or between one and three years in prison.

The theft charge is a Class 3 felony, punishable by probation or a prison term of between three and seven years.